Watch: How Acorns Children's Hospice helps hundreds of poorly youngsters each year as it launches urgent campaign for Government funding

Of course, Acorns Children's Hospice is filled with upset and heartache, but what might surprise you is it is also a place of smiles, laughter, music and colour.

The charity has sites in Birmingham, Worcester and in Walsall, where I paid a visit and met some of the people that work tirelessly everyday to look after poorly children across the region.

When you enter the doors to the hospice on Walstead Road, you are immediately greeted with the smiling faces of volunteers on the reception desk.

It quickly became clear that everyone, whether that be nurses, team leaders or dedicated volunteers, do everything they can to ensure the youngsters, some who spend their final moments there, feel anything but sadness.

Near to the reception is a dining room where children eat together at the same time everyday, a crafts room called Isabella's Place – named after a young girl who previously stayed at the hospice – which is brimming with toys, art supplies and musical instruments and even a cinema room fit with a large projector.

As I walked down the corridor, I heard a nurse playing music to a child and admired the colourful signs outside each of their rooms, which proudly display their name against a background design of their choosing.

Each room, while equipped to deal with every child's medical needs, doesn't look how you might think.

The beeping medical equipment is stashed away in colourful cupboards, whilst a large television screen is mounted to the ceiling, providing a feeling of comfort and entertainment for the poorly youngsters while they lie in their beds.

A sensory room filled with LED lighting, padded flooring and toys greets children at the end of a corridor, while there is also a spa equipped with a hydrotherapy pool for those needing physiotherapy sessions.

Though there is one area of the hospice in particular that I will never forget and that is the cold rooms.

These are temperature regulated rooms, one equipped for a baby and another for a child, where parents can stay with their son or daughter for several days after they pass away to read to them, make pictures with their handprints and most importantly, say goodbye.

One of the many faces behind the hospice is Anna Terry, team leader responsible for neonatal care at Acorns in the Black Country.

During her more than 12 hour shifts, she learns of any poorly youngsters in hospital who she needs to be aware of, is allocated a child to care for, making sure they are up and ready for the day, and is involved with giving end of life care to children or babies.

Anna, aged 50, said: "The best bit [about my job] is coming in each day not knowing what is going to happen that day, it is such a happy place. Most people might have the thought that a hospice is a sad place but as soon as you walk through the door you can see it is a happy and bright place.

"The challenges is the sadder parts of the job which are where we have to care for children who are here receiving end of life care. Although it is a challenge because it can be emotional, it is one of the best parts of the job.

"It is such a privilege to be able to care for those children at the end of their lives. Those families, the parents, the carers, trust us implicitly caring for their child and we can make what is the worst time of their lives possible, a little bit easier."

Of course, the services provided by Acorns – which has cared for more than 750 children in the past year – would also not be possible without the dedicated volunteers.

One of these is 79-year-old Vic Shuck, who has volunteered at the Walsall hospice for 24 years. He currently gives up his time there three days a week, doing admin work and working with the siblings of poorly children at dedicated group sessions held every month.

He said: "We sometimes get siblings bereaved and they can talk about what happened and then other times we might get them talking about their lives in general.

"A lot of siblings are bullied at school and that comes out when we are talking to them. We don't push them, we don't ask them directly, they normally will open up."

The difference the charity makes to the lives of families across the region really hit home when I visited Snap (special needs adventure playground) in Cannock, one of the venues where Acorns hosts events for poorly children who don't live nearby to a hospice site.

It was there that I met Lisa Geach and her 12-year-old daughter, Lilee-Anne, who were joining in on a "stay and play" session.

I spoke to the mum-of-two after Lilee-Anne had ridden a specially adapted zipwire at the playground thanks to Acorns staff who gave her a helping hand.

Lisa, from Wolverhampton, was told to terminate her pregnancy at 20 weeks when doctors detected her child brain abnormalities and said she wouldn't survive birth – but Lilee-Anne has continuously defied the odds.

The youngster was born with parts of her brain missing and requires around-the-clock care. She has a PEG (Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy) feeding tube and is given oxygen overnight as she is prone to night-time seizures due to suffering from a severe form of epilepsy called West syndrome.

Lisa has been using the services at Acorns Children's Hospice since her daughter was three and said she wouldn't know where she would be without them.

The 48-year-old said: "It has been a major help to us when I am unwell, they have helped me out by having Lilee-Anne in on short notice when I have had surgeries and she enjoys going.

"It sounds horrible but she enjoys the time away from me because obviously it is all me, so it is nice to get her used to other people because we know one day I may not be here.

"It is re-assuring that when we go, there are people that love Lilee-Anne and she is really well cared for and she enjoys being there.

"We don't know what we would have done without the Acorns. It is re-assuring to know that when the time does come that her body has had enough, we know we can go to the Acorns and be there as long as we want to be there.

"We know we aren't going to be rushed into things but we know that is going to be her final place and we will all be looked after there and emotionally supported as well which is what we will need."

Lisa lovingly stroked her daughter's hair as she spoke to me while her five-year-old nephew, Jackson, had fun on the playground

Getting emotional, she added: "Acorns supported us for the first few years where we were getting to grips with her conditions. She didn't have her first seizure until nine months of age and I had never cared for a disabled child.

"I have got an elder child who is 30 years of age and going from having a healthy child, to a disabled child was a lot of getting used to so when we found out at 20 weeks pregnant she had parts of her brain missing, I said no, she is my little girl."

In between pushing children on swings and picking them up for cuddles, Ruth Davis, who has been working as an outreach nurse lead at Acorns for almost a decade, spoke to me about why it is important people donate money to support the hospice.

Acorns spends more than £11 million to run its three hospice's in the West Midlands and relies on donations for almost two-thirds of its income.

Ruth said: "We work with a lot of poorly children and their families and every penny makes a different in their lives and everything we are able to do, whether that be a short break at the hospice or a short break at home.

"By building up those relationships and getting to know the families we can absolutely make a huge difference for them in everyday life and when they are poorly and really need it.

"We live with their emotions, for their loss and their sadness, and try to make that a little bit easier to bear and that can be really challenging but also an incredible honour."

In the past year, Acorns has seen a 47 per cent increase in demand for its end-of-life care service and demand for post-death bereavement services has doubled.

It has this week launched an urgent campaign to save vital £2m Government funding and said it faces the prospect of turning away a child in need for the first time in its 36-year history.

The funding, known as the Children's Hospice Grant, is uncertain which means the charity could be force to cut services for life-limited children and their families unless the grant is confirmed before November.

In response, it has launched the Children's Care Matters campaign and called on the Government to safeguard it for at least five years.

As part of its initiative, staff and volunteers are planning to take giant letters spelling 'Help' around West Midlands landmarks, including at the Saddlers Centre in Walsall on Friday.

It comes just weeks after Stourbridge-based Mary Stevens Hospice called for a review of how services are funded to prevent closure in the future.

Katie Burbridge, executive nurse at Acorns, said: "Uncertainty around the grant, rising costs and increased demand is extremely challenging mix for us to deal with.

"It means we are ever more reliant on the generosity of local people for funds – a situation that’s simply not sustainable.

"Whatever people can do to support our campaign, we would be incredibly grateful, so we can raise awareness of this issue and get our voice heard, before it’s too late."